Elastic mesh ballet tights



Oct. 19, 1965 N. H. GOODMAN ELASTIC MESH BALLET TIGHTS Filed June 5,1963 zzvvzm'on.

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A T TOENE Y5 3,212,103 ELASTIC MESH BALLET TIGHTS Norman H. Goodman, NewYork, N.Y., assignor to Vanmark Research (Iorporation, Greensboro, N.C.,a corporation of North Carolina Filed June 5, 1963, Ser. No. 285,750 2Claims. (Cl. 2-424) This invention relates to elastic mesh tights, particulr ly suited to wear by dancers, most especially by ballerinas. Itsprimary object is to provide an improved toot construction which can beWorn in strenuous use with greater cornfiort than like products hithertoavailable. Incidental objectives are that the product cost little morethan similar items, wear Well, and be not visibly different, to personsother than the wearer, trom products presently in use.

The invention is primarily directed to the provision in a mesh stockingof a sewn-in sole piece. The sole piece presents an unbroken surface tothe foot of the wearer, and thereby avoids the persistent and irritatingeffect of conventional tights, in which a seam extends lengthwise downthe center of the foot. Such a seam is especially objectionable in thehosiery which is Worn by ballet dancers and others who practicegymnastic dancing. This is because the full Weight of the body isaugmented by the fiorce of gravity with every leap, so that the sole ofthe foot hammers, as it were, against the seam during many evolutions ofgymnastic dancing.

How the objectives of this invention are attained is illustrated inpreferred form in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates generally a pair of elastic mesh tights.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the foot part of the tights, with the toeportion broken away to clearly show the sewn-in sole piece.

FIG. 3 shows in greatly enlarged scale, the stitch pattern used insewing the sole piece to the mesh portion of the foot.

FIG. 4 shows, in diagram-atic form, a partial section of the footportion.

In FIG, 1 the pair of tights illustrated comprises an elastic waistband,10, a mesh net trunk portion 11, for enciosing the hips and crotch ofthe wearer, and the leg portions 12.

The mesh-work portion of the garment is cut from a sheet of knittedmesh, usually Raschel knit. The pattern used desirably is configured torepresent half of a pair of tights, and is shaped for preference toindicate a cut-out at the foot sole area, as Well as the contours of thetrunk and leg portions. Two counterpart pieces, after cutting, arerolled and scanned along their mating edges to provide the central trunkseam l3, and the back seams 14, one for each of the legs.

Below the section 15 which would normally fit the heel of the wearer,the mesh is cut, as seen in FIG. 2, to provide an opening 17, slightlysmaller than the sole of the foot of the wearer. This opening may be"formed either store or after the blank has been rolled and seamed toform the tights. The opening 17 is filled by a sole piece 18, which isstitched throughout its periphery, 19, to the rim of the opening 17.

Instead of using a conventional hosiery stitcher [for this opera-tion, Iuse a specialized type of sewing machine, known as a Flat-Lock stitcher.Machines of this type are available from the Wilcox & Gibbs SewingMachine Company, and may be available from other sources. The type offlat lock machine which I prefer to use carries four needles above thegoods and four loopers below the goods. It also provides a carrier yarnwhich moves to and im, that is, transversely of the direction of sewing.

nited States Patent 3,Zi2,l3 Patented Get. 1%, 1965 The result is theproduction of a fiat band of stitching, outlined in FIG. 3, much lessbulky than the conventional seam, and relatively fairly wide.

Since the type of sewing machine which produces the multiple-thread flatstitch used to secure the edges of the sole piece to the rim of theopening in the mesh is, and has been, very well known for some years, itwill not be described in detail here.

Considering FIG 2 in greater detail, a portion of the mesh 12 has beenbroken away at 20, so as to reveal the rim of the sole piece. Theflatastitch seam 25 has like wise been broken away to show how the meshoverlies the sole piece. The upper stitch lines 21 produced by thesewing machine are transversed at each stitch by the carrier yarn 22.The corresponding stitch lines produced by the loopers are, of course,below the goods, and are not illustrated in this view. It will berealized that the stitching referred to involves the use of nineseparate threads. The four locking threads are directly below the stitchlines 21 in FIG. 3 also.

In FIG. 4 only the upper stitch lines .21 are shown, the carrier yarn'22 which passes to and fro across the seam above the goods beingomitted for the sake of clarity. The four locking threads 23 are seenbeneath the goods, and the vertical thread 24 is, of course, the threadwhich penetrates the goods between stitches.

In stitching the sole piece to the rim of the opening 17 the leg isturned inside out, and placed on the work table of the sewing machine,then the sole piece itself is laid above the :cut loops of the mesh,overlapping the marginal area near the periphery of the opening. It ishighly desirable so to locate the fiat seam that it catches practicallyall of the free ends of the mesh yarns around the rim of the opening 17,and also runs parallel to the edge of the sole piece 13. It is alsoimportant that the band of stitching should secure a sufiiciently largearea of the mesh around the opening to ensure that the meshes are firmlybound to the sole piece throughout its periphery. The operator mustraise the edge of the sole piece from time to time as the stitchingprogresses, in order to see, eneath the pressure foot of the machine,that the line of stitching will be congruent with the rim of the opening'17, as Well as with the edge of the sole piece itself.

Insofar as details of the construction are concerned, it is, of course,obvious that any appropriate type of yarn may be used for producing themesh legs. This forms no part of the present invention, but it may beobserved that the product most commonly available commercially comprisesa cotton covered, elastic core yarn which is knitted with nylon yarn onthe Raschel machine.

Insofar as the sole piece 18 is concerned, it may be formed of anysmooth, soft fabric. I prefer to use a jersey-knit fabric made ofrelatively fine denier yarn. Tricot fabric is equally acceptable. Wovengoods may also be used, particularly where it is not desired to pro videsubstantial stretching of the sole piece in use.

Although a primary objective of the invention is to avoid the irritationproduced by a central seam along the length of the foot, it should beemphasized that the entire sole area is not seamless. Rather, the solepiece of the present invention is preferably slightly smaller than thebottom area of the foot of the wearer, so that the flat stitching aroundthe rim of the opening in the mesh will inevitably carry some of theweight of the wearer when the garment is used. But I have discoveredthat when a fiat seam is used, and this flat stitching is located nearthe periphery of the sole area of the foot, little if any irritation isproduced in actual use. My tentative explanation for this observedphenomenon is that the primary impact at each step, when dancing orleaping, is on the center of the ball of the foot, and that theperipheral margin of the foot sole takes relatively little of the shock.

It has been surprising to find that a peripheral seam, even though stillentirely below the sole of the foot of the wearer, causes much lessdiscomfort than a central lengthwise seam. This finding involved notonly the discovery that the peripheral portions of the foot soleapparently are not as heavily stressed in active use as the centralarea, but also that a flat seam can reduce the irritation almost to thevanishing point. It has been equally surprising to discover that theincreased comfort is sufiiciently important to the purchaser to justifythe added cost of cutting and fitting, and especially the relativelypainstaking cost of flat-stitching the parts together.

One other observation may be offered at this point. Although one mightsuppose that irritation of the foot of the wearer could be completelyavoidedby forming the opening in the mesh, and the sole piece whichmates with it, of a suflicient size to extend entirely across the soleand slightly upon the round of the foot, I have discovered that aconstruction of that type is not appreciated by potential customers,since it is conspicuous in use. It seems to be important to dancers thatthe area of the sole piece and the stitch line should be substantiallycompletely covered by the foot of the wearer, in order to avoid creatingthe appearance that the dancer is wearing socks or slippers. A suitablerelationship is suggested in FIG. 4, where it is clearly seen that theflat seam lies generally inward from the point at which the mesh beginsto cover the round of the foot, although it may extend slightly beyondthe contact area, as long as it is not conspicuous to others.

I claim:

1. Ballet tights having a trunk portion, and two openrnesh leg portionsassociated therewith, each of said leg portions terminating in anopen-mesh foot portion, said garment being characterized in that each ofsaid foot portions has an opening slightly smaller than the foot size ofthe garment, to the rim of which opening a continuous flat sole piece ofsmooth, soft fabric, configured to cover a major portion only of thesole of the wearers foot, is united by a band of fiat-seam stitching, ofthe type which comprises a plurality of side-by-side threads primarilyabove the fabric and an equal number of locking threads below thefabric, both groups of threads extending generally lengthwise of theseam, and a carrier yarn extending to and fro transversely of the seam,said line of stitchin g covering substantially all of the free ends ofthe meshes where they have been cut to provide the opening aforesaid.

2. Ballet tights as defined in claim 1, wherein the sole piece underliesthe margins of the opening in the meshwork of the foot portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 883,614 3/08Borton 2-275 X 2,334,659 11/43 Van Arsdale et al 369 2,420,089 5/47Murphey 2-80 2,798,311 7/57 Scholl 36-9 3,020,556 2/62 Isley 661773,037,368 6/62 Isenhour 66177 JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

1. BALLET TIGHTS HAVING A TRUNK PORTION, AND TWO OPENMESH LEG PORTIONSASSOCIATED THEREWITH,EACH OF SAID LEG PORTIONS TERMINATING IN ANOPEN-MESH FOOT PORTION, SAID GARMENT BEING CHARACTERIZED IN THAT EACH OFSAID FOOT PORTIONS HAS AN OPENING SLIGHTLY SMALLER THAN THE FOOT SIZE OFTHE GARMENT, TO THE RIM OF WHICH OPENING A CONTINUOUS FLAT SOLE PICE OFSMOOTH, SOFT FABRIB, CONFIGURED TO COVER A MAJOR PORTION ONLY OF THESOLE OF THE WEARER''S FOOT, IS UNITED BY A BAND OF FLAT-SEAM STICHTING,OF THE TYPE WHICH COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF SIDE-BY-SIDE THREADSPRIMARILY ABOVE THE FABRIC AND AN EQUAL NUMBER OF LOCKING THREADS BELOWTHE FABRIC, BOTH GROUPS OF THREADS EXTENDING GENERALLY LENTHWISE OF THESEAM, AND A CARRIER YARN EXTENDINF TO AND FRO TRANSVERSELY OF THE SEAM,SAID LINE OF STITCHING COVERING SUBSTANTILLY ALL OF THE FREE ENDS OF THEMESHES WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN CUT TO PROVIDE THE OPENING AFORESAID.